Magic The Gathering
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XBLA in Brief: Rocket Riot, Magic: The Gathering, Sam & Max
Now that Xbox Live Marketplace is working properly again, we finally got to try our hand at this weeks new Xbox Live Arcade releases. There are five very different games available this week. We've got the collectible card RPG Magic: The Gathering (800 / $10), the point-and-click adventure Sam & Max Save the World (1600 / $20) and even a straight-up action game in Rocket Riot (800 / $10). Check out the latest XBLA in Brief and see if any of them tickle your fancy.Download the trial version of Rocket Riot Download the trial version of Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the PlaneswalkersDownload the trial version of Sam & Max Save the World [iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes.[Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly.[RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[M4V] Download the M4V directly.
This Wednesday: Magic the Gathering, Sam & Max hit the XBLA
This week, Xbox Live Arcade gets not one, but two genres that rarely see the light of day on consoles. First, we've got the collectible card game, Magic the Gather: Duels of the Planeswalkers. Unlike the weird Magic title on the original Xbox -- which played something like a weird monster summoning / volleyball hybrid -- Planeswalkers sticks to the traditional card game, which should make fans mighty happy. The game will deal 800 ($10) damage to your wallet.Next, we have the XBLA debut of the Sam & Max adventure series, Sam & Max Save the World. Save the World is actually the first season of the Sam & Max episodic series that has been available on PC and Wii for some time now. That's six episodes of comedy gold for 1600 ($20). For those keeping score, that's the same price as the PC version and $10 cheaper than the Wii version.
XBLA deals out Magic: The Gathering on June 17 [update]
Wizards of the Coast has announced that Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers will finally release on Xbox Live Arcade this month. Specifically, the game will launch on June 17. Have no fear, Magic fans, unlike the Xbox version of Magic: The Gathering, Duels of the Planeswalkers is a straight-up card game. And, based on our time with it at PAX last year, it's a pretty good one.Unfortunately, we still don't know how much green damage the game will deal to your wallet.Update: We now have the price. Duels of the Planeswalkers will cost 800 ($10).
PAX 2008 hands-on: Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers
Wizards of the Coast has been very busy talking about the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons, which came out this year, as well as its Star Wars and D&D miniatures and the online version of Magic: The Gathering. So, we were really caught off guard when we stopped by the Wizards booth at PAX and happened across this new version of Magic for the Xbox Live Arcade. We did a double take, tapped our mana, and found out more. Find out about the long-titled Magic: The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers after the break.%Gallery-30916%
15 Minutes of Fame: WoW's new wave of new gamers
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about at 15minutesoffame (at) wowinsider (dot) com.When I received a news tip from from Rainnajax of US Uldaman-H about being an "older female gamer," I admit that I rolled my eyes. Please, not another one who thinks having two X chromosomes makes her the most special snowflake ... Not another one who thinks being over 30 years old qualifies her as one of the Ancients ... When I read her entire email, though, I realized Rainnajax's experience was actually intriguing – but not for the reasons she thought.While Rainnajax may perceive herself as something still a little unusual among WoW players, I see her as the type of player who's becoming the new norm. She's less remarkable for being female or "older" – or even for belonging to a well known gay and bi-friendly guild -- than she is for being among the new wave of players who'd never imagined themselves playing a video game ... until they tried WoW. MMORPGs are no longer the province of a single type of player anymore. Rainnajax is here as an example of today's new-to-gaming, non-gender- or age-specific player.
DS Daily: The Non-Gathering
Given the Nintendo DS's popularity and portability, we don't understand why every company doesn't have something in the works for the handheld. Take Wizards of the Coast, for example -- yesterday, the publisher announced plans to release two new games based on the Magic: The Gathering license for PCs, Macs, and Xbox LIVE Arcade. Wouldn't it have been fantastic if it were on the DS, as well?We would love to carry around an online-enabled version of M:TG in our pockets, but perhaps that's just us and our high-school memories of the collectible card game. Would you buy a M:TG release for the DS? Or have newer card-based games made the 90s pastime seem passé?
Magic: The Gathering-based games coming to PC, Mac, Xbox Live
If a hit computer game can turn into a hit collectible card game, then why can't a hit CCG become a hit computer game? That seems to be the thinking behind today's announcement that Wizards of the Coast has licensed video game use of its Magic: The Gathering IP to Stainless Games (which will make Xbox Live and PC versions) and Mind Control Software (which will make a Mac edition).Today's bare-bones announcement includes absolutely no information about how the license will be used or what form the games will take, but it's probably safe to say they won't be direct conversions of the popular card game (WotC's Magic: The Gathering Online already fills that role quite well). More likely, the games will probably follow Acclaim and Atari's leads in using characters and locations from the card game for a new type of experience. We can only pray that these newest efforts will improve on those somewhat disastrous past efforts, because the Magic Universe definitely contains a lot of potential for a good video game.[Thanks Ross]
DS tapped for Magic: The Gathering card viewer
Before you get carried away with fantasies of playing Magic: The Gathering matches with your Nintendo DS, try to remind yourself that this is only a simple homebrew application for viewing the game's cards. As far as we know, Wizards of the Coast has no plans for turning the king of collectible card games into an online-supported release for the DS, further confirming our suspicion that life isn't really worth living. Even if you can't actually make a deck and play with the cards in this dressed-up GIF viewer, it's still a useful resource that allows you to look up artwork and information for over 1800 cards. Displaying everything book-style, the program fills the top screen with the selected card while icons on the touchscreen sort everything by color, type, set, and rarity. Developer Sylus101 promises to add more cards and features, but, at the moment, the card library is limited to sets from the Ravnica, Time Spiral, and Lorwyn blocks. Core sets and older sets have yet to be added, so you might not be able to find some of your favorite cards, including the best Magic: The Gathering creature of all time, Phelddagrif.[Via Dev-fr]
